The Nagas

Hill Peoples of Northeast India

Project Introduction The Naga Database

black & white photographs taken by Ursula Graham Bower between 1937 and 1946

caption: Magulong dancers, [VJ Day celebrations, Haflong village]
medium: photographs
person: Khutuing/ of Magulong
location: Haflong
production:
form: 35mm negatives
person: Graham Bower/ Ursula
date: 16.3.1946
note: information based on catalogue compiled by photographer unless in square brackets
acquirer:
person: Pitt Rivers Museum Archive, Oxford
refnum: BT NO 2036-9
clip:
Caption:The white wooden objects held by the singers are models of now obsolete daos, similar to Kabui dancing daos.
clip:
Caption:The two men nearest the camera, though now dancing male parts, are wearing women's skirts and subsequently appeared in the Nzemi equivalent of English stage "drag". this was peculiar to Magulong and to their very professional performance. I never saw it elsewhere but, as Magulong did it, with somewhat broad comedy, it was extremely funny. The skirted dancer on the right is Khutuing, the extremely able headman of Magulong. Dancing in this village was not left to the young men and girls; the lead was taken men of the hangtingmi, i.e. the warrior class.